In the early 1990s I ran an original Mini, in fact a City E like this one :
1.0 A-"Plus" engine (stiffer block) but low compression so only 40hp. I started a job 20 motorway miles away and the old Mini wasn't much use at speed - you could slipstream cars and hear the air vents go quiet if you were close enough
Anyway it needed fixing (surprise!) so went to the dealer for a day and I got a Metro van to use :
The same engine, heavier car, longer 4th gear (18.5 mph/1000 rpm vs 17.2 for the Mini) and better aero.
That better aero was excellent and that van and me pushed BMWs out of the fast lane all that day.
So when the original AX came along (sans Diesel in the UK for a while) I pondered a 1.0, 5 sp for a while. A really base model, no radio, no wheel covers, keep fit window handles.
I didn't put my money down as the dealer wanted too much. Lucky actually as the 1.0 engine was older than god even in the early 1990s and not that long living or easy to fix.
A 1.5 Diesel would be OK, the original 1.4 had an Iron block and the later 1.5 had an alloy one which was meant to be noisier but the reverse was actually true. Both had rotary pumps so veggie oil is a must.
There was a Metro 1.4 Diesel which used the same 1.4 engine as the AX and then a Rover 115d (Metro renamed) which used the 1.5D which kinds of brings the story full circle.
A test of the Rover 1.4 Diesel
here.
Quote:
|
Top speed 86 mph, 0-60 19.4 seconds, MPG 47
|
The Metro / Rover car was better all round (better made, better suspension, better handling) but for some reason had really low gearing - about 19mph/1000 rpm compared to about 25 in the AX - so it was noisy at speed.